GTA 6 may be unplayable for millions at launch with key decision needed

GTA 6 looks like it could be an unplayable beast for millions of gamers on PS5 and Xbox when Rockstar finally releases it on 19 November

The latest gaming instalment in the epic Grand Theft Auto franchise is finally going to hit shelves at the end of this year in time for Christmas following on from two major delays; push backs that were deemed necessary to perfect the game for launch.

Gone are the days of queuing outside the likes of GAME, GameStop and Walmart at midnight, as we saw with GTA 5, with the vast majority of us set to digitally download the new game later this year.

Despite all the continued rumours around pre-orders and a third trailer, one thing we know for certain is that it's set to be absolutely massive - both in scale and digital size.

Jason and Lucia, GTA 6's protagonists (Rockstar)

This is where you'll have to make a decision on launch day, or be left unable to play the game in the build up to Christmas.

We're talking about the file size of course, with it set to be in the hundreds of gigabytes - especially when you consider what the likes of Red Dead Redemption 2 required in 2018 for the previous generation of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, nevermind the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S.

As reported by ScreenRant, Reddit is awash with conversation about just how much room we're going to have to free up.

GTA 6 character Cal Hampton (Rockstar)

One said: "GTA is like 120 GB now after 12 years, RDR2 is like 150 GB now, so I’d assume GTA 6 will be somewhere around 200 GB at the start, then probably go upwards of 300 GB after a couple of years.

"But it’s funny because Call of Duty games are damn near 250-plus and they aren’t free roam, so Rockstar will definitely take advantage of the console and make the big GB amount worth it."

Another wrote: "Personally, I'm placing my bet on around 250 GB to 350 GB. This would be absurdly huge, but it's shaping up to be an absurdly huge game, and that would still be within the realm of precedent by some current games like DCS [Digital Combat Simulator], Ark and Forza."

Depending on what PS5 console you have, standard models have a 1TB storage unit, with roughly 842 GB that can be used. But older original models had 825 GB, meaning you may have to delete a load of other games, as well as saved photos and videos, to make GTA 6 a reality.

We imagine it wont be a difficult decision for some, with GTA 6 set to dominate the gaming landscape for the next two decades if GTA 5's longevity is anything to go by.